This is why coin dealers are looked at just higher than vermin...

[jtryka]

Ok, so I needed a 2008 Mexican Libertad 1-ounce silver for my collection, and so I saw this and bought one: eBay Auction .

 

Well, I get the invoice and it includes not only the price and $5.99 shipping and "handling" but also another $1.60 for insurance, which to me is just nickel and diming me to death.

 

So, I sent the following message to the seller:

 

I agreed to purchase a 2008 1-ounce silver libertad from you, and I was expecting to pay the $29.25 + $5.99 shipping, and the invoice incuded an additional charge of $1.60 for insurance. Not one word about this added charge was included in the listing. I have no problem paying an exorbitant premium for this coin as I need it for my collection, however I really resent being nickeled and dimed to death on shipping and insurance. Please advise and I will send you an appropriate check.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeff Tryka

(eBay ID: jtryka)

 

To which the "professional seller" responded:

 

There is no exorbitant premium on our coin, try a search on this coin and they are up to $35 with some dealers. Our coins are in stock!

 

As for the insurance, you say there is not one word?? Why dont you read the entire listing instead of spouting off on something you dont know what you are talking about"??

 

Try the following statement from our listing! (Insurance is required.) It is not optional.

 

We resent users that think they know it all only to eat there words when they find out they are wrong! Try reading descriptions in the future and then if you are nickeld and dimed to death, its your own fault....We have better things to do on our day off to correct someone..............................................................................

 

So, then I responded:

 

It is a 1-ounce silver coin, and I am paying almost double the price of silver. As for other dealers, you are the single largest dealer for this coin, so that argument holds little value. I reread your description and it is listed, unfortunately you did not list the cost, so it could have been presented better. Your message was insulting and rude, and given that I spend in excess of $50,000 annually on my collection, you have earned yourself a one-time customer. Please feel free to provide negative feedback for me if that is your wish, I will provide feedback based on the coin I receive (although I think with the new eBay feedback rules, your negative feedback rating will mean vitually nothing). I will mail you a check for my purchase on Monday, and if I ever hear from you again once I receive my coin, it will be too soon. As for your day off, I hope you enjoy it, and if you think that all your customers are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons as you seem to imply, I think you will have plenty of additional days off in the future.

 

Sincerly,

 

Jeff Tryka

 

To which they replied:

 

DOUBLE THE PRICE OF SILVER WOULD BE $41 . NOT $29.

IF YOU DONT WANT TO HEAR FROM US, QUIT E-MAILING THIS BORING RHETORIC AS YOUR 1ST E-MAIL WAS RUDE OR WE WOULD NOT HAVE RESPONDED.

 

DONT WORRY , WE BLOCKED YOU FROM BIDDING ON OUR MANY WEB SITES. WE SELL $$$$$$$$$$$$IONS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR AND EBAY IS .005% OF OUR BUSINESS, SO YOUR $50,000 IS ALSO BORING AS WE SPEND THAT EVERY OTHER HOUR ON BULLION AND PREC. METALS.

 

IF YOU ARE STILL TRYING TO INSULT US, WE SEE YOUR KIND ALL OF THE TIME AND IF YOU SPEND $50,000, WHY WHINE OVER EXACT INSURANCE ?? HOW CAN WE LIST THE COST WHEN WE HAVE 1174 COINS IN JUST THIS AUCTION ALONE? WE DONT GIVE A RATS IF YOU LEAVE FEEDBACK AS OUR FEEDBACK IS GENERATED BY OUR SOFTWARE TO SAVE TIME!

 

NOT ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS ARE insufficiently_thoughtful_persons, JUST THE ONES THAT CANT READ! PLEASE DONT RESPOND, SPEND YOUR WEEKS OFF TRYING TO THINK OF WAYS TO BE CLEAVER INSTEAD OF PUTTING YOUR FOOT IN YOUR TRAP.....

 

FURTHER MORE, WE CAN END THIS DEAL AND CALL OFF THE AUCTION AND CAN MOVE ON.

 

JUST LET US KNOW!

 

RARECO

 

So, I was thinking of just going through withi this deal anyway, since it was my own fault for not reading carefully enough. But can anyone understand my annoyance with this whole situation?

[kryptonitecomics]

I think you are getting worked up over nothing....and I think the seller is a jerk.....that pretty much sums it up for me.

[jtryka]

Thanks, He tried to close the transaction as a "mutual wothdrawal" but the way he set it up, I would have received a non-paying bidder strike! So I declined and said I would pay as I agreed.

[jtryka]

This is why I should just sell my collection and deal with bankers, at least they are scum that is one level up from this.

[kryptonitecomics]

What you should do.....is enjoy your collecting and don't sweat the little stuff. You can't control anyone else's conscience or morals & standards.....so don't try. Just be the best person you can be an understand their is a thing called karma and in the end.....jerks get theirs (thumbs u

[jtryka]

Yeah, but why are there so many jerks in this hobby???

[MunkyMan95]

Jeff,

 

I can't totally disagree with the seller. In your first email, you seemed very accusatory and even slightly rude. However, I do not agree at all with how the seller responded to you. Had I been the seller in this situation, I would have agreed to remove the insurance charge to avoid any confusion. I mean, after all, we're talking about $1.60 here.

 

Then, in the seller's second email, he's a real jerk. I can see why you are annoyed. I'd stay away from them at all costs.

 

Though there are many slimy snakes in this hobby, there are also just as many AWESOME people to deal with. Dealers like Mark Feld and JJ Teaparty come to mind. So, not all coin dealers are vermin, just the ones that can't be "bothered" by the little guy.

[Dcoin]

Internet buying and selling does not lend itself to being pleasant. It's easier chew somebody out in an email rather than face to face. If this were a store front, he might have still been annoyed but I'm sure he would have not lost it like he did.

 

Don't sweat it, and BTW that's a sweet looking coin, I hadn't seen the '08's yet.

[jtryka]

Well, it's my fault that I missed the small mention of insurance, so that's why I will stand by my agreement with this transaction, because that is what I do. I just wish there weren't so many in this business. I've never dealt with Mark, but he seems nice, I've dealt with JJ Teaparty and they are very nice, but this whole episode makes me want to find a nice hobby without so many jerks.

[MunkyMan95]

I guess you could try stamp collecting :shrug:

 

 

 

 

Just kidding! Stick around! Don't let this one little episode get under your skin.

[jtryka]

Hell, there's bird watching, NASCAR, all sorts of other hobbies that don't have as a prerequisite dealing with A-S-S-H-O-L-E-S...

[MunkyMan95]

But is coin collecting not worth it to you to deal with the jerks in the business in order to stay in the hobby you love?

[harvey8542]

Jeff I have the perfect solution for ya. Send me a list of what you need and some money and I'll be glad to deal with the insufficiently_thoughtful_persons out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harvey8542]

On a serious note I wouldn't let a little thing like this make you quit such a great hobby.

[jtryka]

Ok Harvey, you can be my agent, you just better not me off! In all seriousness though, I am thinking it might not be worth pursuing a hobby that makes you feel dirty after you've done it a while...

[MunkyMan95]

I am thinking it might not be worth pursuing a hobby that makes you feel dirty after you've done it a while...

 

That's not what she said

[harvey8542]

Take a liitle break. I dont remember where you live but if you got lakes and ice then I would suggest Ice fishing. There is nothing like sitting out on a frozen lake pulling some nice pan fish through the ice. After Ice out then up here in WI we hit the Wolf river and nail some walleyes.

[WoodenJefferson]

Take 2and call me in the morning

[World Colonial]

I do not deal with many coin dealers, mainly sellers on eBay and I do not recall if most of them were dealers or not. But what I can tell you is that generically speaking, I find the service levels from the dealers I have dealt with poor or at least below average compared to other businesses. This does not apply to all of them of course, but it seems to be the majority.

 

Maybe it is the lack of face to face contact, maybe it is that I am not that big of a customer for any of them or maybe they think they can get away with it because they are not selling widgets.

 

If it is just something I find annoying, then I just suck it up and put up with it. The coins I collect are hard to find and there just are not many or any other options. But I can tell you that if I were collecting material that was easy or easier to find like most collectors do, I would not put up with poor service.

 

Those emails you included in this thread from that seller are completely ridiculous. If they think your complaint was uncalled for, they should have dealt with some of the retail customer complaints I had to deal with working at a grocery chain for eight years when I was in high school and college. I worked in the service desk and had all kinds of rude customers and absurd complaints. Did I or my company treat these people badly in return even when we thought they were an insufficiently_thoughtful_person? No, because that isn't what a service business does.

[jtryka]

So, if I read all these responses correctly, coin dealers are holes, and I should just deal with it, but don't leave the hobby, because you love it so much...

 

Well, I don't love it that much.

[James_OldeTowne]

Jeff, I understand your frustration, but am somewhat upset by how you interpret this incident as an indication that "coin dealers are looked at just higher than vermin". "Coin dealer" does not enter into this issue at all. The guy is a rude, obnoxious boor and a pathetic person. But that is no reflection on "coin dealers". There are dentists, librarians, bus drivers, computer programmers, beggars, celloists and ministers who are just as pathetic as people, but that is no reflection on their chosen vocation.

 

And some coin collectors are pathetic people as well.

 

Please do not make this type of sweeping generalization. I know you are a well-meaning person, and I am sorry you ran into someone who is the type that tries to bring you down to his level

 

[bsshog40]

I agree with Dave here. This probably would have been avoided if this had been a face to face confrontation. It's too easy for words in emails to be mis-construed. I do beleive that if you had noticed the line of Insurance being required, then you could have questioned the seller of the amount and decided yourself if you wanted to be nickeled and dimed. I think that the correspondence between you both were slightly immature. You made an accusation without gaining all the knowledge that was given. The seller responded in defense which was only human nature. After that, the emails became a word war, and you lost a seller for a coin you collect and he lost a buyer. Who really won here? JMO

[jtryka]

James, while you are correct in identifying my generalizaiton, it seems that there is some truth to it. After all, when I was much younger, I collected comics, but quit when I met too many scumbag dealers...then I saw the comic guy on the Simpson's and that is exactly what I was dealing with, so it seems that even some truth seeps into the common culture. Although this person was a boor, unfortunately I wish he was the only negative person I've found as a dealer...instead, I've seen many dealers around that make this person look like the norm, hence my generalization...if you don't like it, perhaps you migfht want to mention it to your dealer friends that this is what their customer base is starting to see in them, and they might want to make an effort to change the perception...

[jtryka]

Bobby,

 

the only winner here are the collectors that will be buying my coins cheap...

[bsshog40]

Bobby,

 

the only winner here are the collectors that will be buying my coins cheap...

 

Hate to see a moment of frustration ruin such a rewarding hobby!

Hope I at least have some money if they go!!!

[jtryka]

They are all for sale, posted in the BST forum, if there is something you are looking for, let me know, I probably have it.

[bsshog40]

Dang that was fast Jeff. Wish I had some money. Sorry to see ya sell my friend!!

[jtryka]

No worries, I am not in any hurry, I will gradually sell everything, I just want to make sure I sell everything to fellow collectors, rather than dealers, though I am not sure why since I expected a little more support on this topic from my fellow collectors, but oh well.

[Just Bob]

In Jeff's defense, the "insurance is required" line is buried in a paragraph about sales tax. I missed it the first time I read it, too.

[bsshog40]

No worries, I am not in any hurry, I will gradually sell everything, I just want to make sure I sell everything to fellow collectors, rather than dealers, though I am not sure why since I expected a little more support on this topic from my fellow collectors, but oh well.

 

My opinions are by experience Jeff. I used to speed read thru some of these 2 page descriptions and rules until I got ripped on some S&H charges. I've learned to slow down a little and read everything clearly. I really didn't think the correspondence of either party was very respectful, and I can see why the seller and you got very upset. I just feel that things probably would have gone alot smoother if handled slightly better than it was on both parties ends.